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Skeleton-WINTER OLYMPIC DREAM: to help and support me with my dream of becoming a Winter Olympic Athlete and making the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

iCrowdNewswire - Nov 22, 2015

Skeleton-WINTER OLYMPIC DREAM

HELLO EVERYBODY,

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I am excited and overwhelmed by the number of people that have shown interest and willingness to help and support me with my dream of becoming a Winter Olympic Athlete and making the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Skeleton, as you may or may not already know, is a downhill sliding sport that involves a single person laying headfirst on a sled. The aim of the sport is to get to the bottom of an ice track in the quickest total time possible, which means hitting speeds up to 80 mph with your chin centimetres from (sometimes on) the ice. There are no brakes on the sled and we experience immense pressures – up to 5G (even up to 8 snap G)… hence why some people like to tell me I’m a little bit crazy!

My target is to raise £3000. This will contribute to my living, training, and travel costs over the next season and allow me to train and compete as a full-time athlete, alongside my studies in my final year at Loughborough University. I currently do not receive any financial assistance, so to progress on my journey and make my dream of becoming a Winter Olympic athlete a reality, I will need financial support to get me started first and foremost to travel for training, which is essential due to there being no home track in the UK for bob-skeleton.

The FUTURE…

Great Britain’s skeleton athletes have medalled at EVERY games that the sport has featured. It is my goal to emulate the likes of Shelley Rudman, Amy Williams and Lizzy Yarnold and win a gold medal for Team GB at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

The Talent program – which I am a member of, is renowned for producing champions, therefore I am confident that my work ethic and drive, alongside the team around me, will get me to where I wish to be in seven years. I believe that I can be on that podium.

ABOUT ME

I am 21, and from Manchester. I am currently in my second sliding season as a skeleton athlete. I came across skeleton through a Talent ID search namedPower2Podium, shortly after the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, where I progressed through numerous selection phases and became a successful applicant from over 1000 that originally applied.

Prior to skeleton, I was a heptathlete (specialising in 100m hurdles) and represented Great Britain at Junior Level in 2013, and won the 100m hurdles at the renowned English Schools Championships in Gateshead in 2012. As a heptathlete, I struggled with injury due to the repetitive nature of the activity, so it only made sense that 3 ankle operations later, I decided to see if I could fulfill my potential as a sportswoman elsewhere.

Being selected into the British Skeleton Talent Programme is an exciting new prospect, and I am willing to work hard to see how I can fulfil my potential in the sport. Skeleton has given me a new and thrilling passion and has reignited my desire to represent my country at an Olympic Games.

Stretching my final year at Loughborough University, where I am currently studying English and Sports Science, will give me more lenience when it comes to attending training camps abroad, and allow me the extra time I need for training and learning how to slide, alongside all the other lifestyle aspects which I will need to progress in the sport.